


Just a Party

by Tamoline



Series: Crystalline [1]
Category: Parahumans Series - Wildbow
Genre: Gen, Trauma
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-10-12
Updated: 2018-10-12
Packaged: 2019-08-01 03:39:15
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,984
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16277096
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Tamoline/pseuds/Tamoline
Summary: Crystal's in high school now, and she's utterly through with being virtually imprisoned in her own house.Just sneaking out for a party surely couldn't hurt.Could it?





	Just a Party

“Hey,” Maria said, bopping her way over to Crystal. “I’ve heard that there’s going to be a party over at Bobby’s tonight. Wanna crash?” She widened her eyes in her best imitation of a pleading puppy.

Crystal couldn’t help but smile, softening, even as the answer she wanted to give, warm and soft and ever so slightly wanting, warred with the one she knew that she had to say; cold tightness within.

Maria, seizing whatever opportunity she saw in Crystal’s eyes, encouraged her with a, “Come on. We’re in high school now. Live a little.”

For a moment, Crystal almost felt brave enough to say yes, but only for a moment. Her parents’ reaction… It wouldn’t be worth it. “Sorry,” she said, shaking her head.

For a moment, Maria looked disappointed, but then she shrugged. “Oh well. There’s always next time.” She smirked a little and pointed at Crystal with one finger. “I will get you out of that house of yours, if it’s the last thing I do.”

Crystal smiled a little weakly and did her best to change the subject.

After school was the same routine as always. A purple globe, looking like spun glass, descended from the heavens, Mom and Eric caught inside like insects in amber. Getting dropped off and picked up like this was cool… the first few times. In kindergarten. Now all Crystal could feel was a weary contempt for anyone who still managed to be impressed by it. As if Mother using her powers like this was anything other than one more reason why the family could avoid the expense of getting a car.

As the bubble touched down, it disappeared.

“Hey,” Mom said. “So, how was school today?” As she asked that, her eyes flicked up and down Crystal’s body, as if searching for any injuries that Crystal might be hiding from her.

Crystal didn’t even bother to conceal the roll of her eyes. “It’s **fine** , Mother. Just like every other day.” She stepped closer, twisting away from her mother’s attempted hug, and waited.

The bubble snapped shut around them, stifling the cool breeze that had been blowing, distorting the world through a purplish haze as it slowly, lugubriously lifted off. One day soon, it wouldn’t be able to lift all three of them at once. Crystal would pray for that day if it meant there was the slightest chance she’d actually get to go to school on the bus like a normal person, or even — gasp — attend some after school activities. Fat chance of that happening, though. Mom would just make her wait inside the school building where it was **safe** until she’d returned after dropping Eric off.

Dad was waiting at the door when they got home, already pacing impatiently as Mom’s bubble disappeared. “There’s been some trouble at Dastrill’s,” he said, naming one of their major sponsors, clenching his fists in anticipation. “Carol and Mark are already on the way.” He glanced down at Crystal and Eric. “There’s some chilled pasta in the fridge.” As he stepped up to Mom, Crystal and Eric were already vacating the area, well used to this particular drill.

“Don’t forget to lock and deadbolt the front door,” Mom said, Crystal bitterly mouthing along with her. 

As if she could ever forget.

Don’t leave the house without an adult. Never answer the door. Always keep the curtains closed if you’re alone in the house.

She obediently shooed Eric into the house, shutting the door and twisting the key twice until the deadbolts slid into place. Then she stomped up into her postage stamp of a room before slamming the door, collapsing on the bed and glowering at the ceiling.

All her worldly possessions were in here, crammed around the edges of the room. Cheap clothes hanging off an even cheaper rack lined up one wall, taking up almost half of what space was left over after the bed. Then there was her pile of books, mostly romance novels bought by the pound from a charity shop. And she couldn’t forget her dolls, left over from when she was younger. She still had a complete set of New Wave dolls in their original packaging, even including Lightstar and Fleur. It might even be worth something, if anyone actually really gave a shit about New Wave these days. 

And, granted, they were still in their original packaging because she had multiples of pretty much everything, because the cheapest gift Mom could get her was one she only had go down to the garage to retrieve, for zero mark up prices. Cheaply made, too. The ones she’d actually played with had mostly fallen apart in an array of severed arms and legs and heads and bare torsos.

Still, it had meant that she got the chance to make her own dolls out of the parts with a bit of sewing and a dab of imagination. She was fairly sure that she still had Octo-Mom around somewhere — Mom’s head, torso and legs with one arm from each of the members of New Wave.

Suddenly she couldn’t take it any more, being surrounded by the dead eyes of her family in their plastic bubbles, in this house that she wasn’t allowed to leave unless there was an adult with her, and screamed into her pillow. 

There may not have been literal bars on the windows, but it didn’t make much difference — they had been replaced by near unbreakable panes of glass with the cash inflow after Fleur’s death. And it wasn’t as though she’d been allowed so much as a sleepover or a non-supervised visit to a friend’s house since then — even though her cousins hardly even had to ask for that.

Fuck it.Mom and Dad were undoubtedly going to be out late — they’d probably make a quick patrol to press the flesh after dealing with whatever the problem was at Dastrill’s.

She got out her phone and texted Maria.  
_What times the party  
Can i bring my 11 yr brother along_

Maria quickly replied with:  
_!!!!!!!!_  
_What hav u don w crystal_  
_Where is body_  
_Yesyesyesyes_  
_Will get my bro to pick u up at 7_  
_Wat is address_

____

____

Crystal texted her the address, then padded off to find Eric. As she’d suspected, he was downstairs in front of the TV, playing on the last generation console they had inherited from the Dallons.

“So,” she began. “What do you feel about going to a party tonight?”

He pressed pause and then twisted around to look at her sceptically. “Mom’s really allowing you to go to one of those?”

“I’m fourteen now,” she said, years of resentment colouring her voice. “It’s about time she realised that. And yes,” she said over his re-asking of the question, “she **did** allow me to go, and if you’re really lucky, I’ll let you tag along with me.”

“Hah,” he muttered. “Like Mom would let you leave me alone.”

Crystal resisted the urge to point out that Mom had left him alone with her when she was his age. In part because he was probably right. And in part because just the idea of leaving him by himself made her feel a nervous trembling in her stomach, like some of Mom’s over-protectiveness had made its way down to her through her X chromosome.

Besides, she didn’t want to have him have to live the same way she had ever since Fleur had died.

“Come on,” she wheedled. “You can tell all your friends tomorrow that you went to a high school party..”

“I don’t know…” he said dubiously, but she saw his lips twitch and she knew she had him.

She leapt to her feet. “Let’s get you fed, and then we can decide what you’re going to wear to your first high school party.”

He clambered up, rolling his eyes. “I haven’t even decided I’m going yet,” he complained.

“Yes you have,” she practically sung at him.

“Okay, I have,” he said, letting the incipient smile break fully out over his face,

She was going to get to go out with friends. She was going to get to go out with **Maria**. She was going to get to go out to a party!

She was going to be free, and it felt like the first breath of fresh air in **years**.

That feeling lasted just long enough for her to finish dinner and start stressing about what she was going to wear. She had, like, one halfway decent dress, but that was more the kind of thing she’d wear to a formal function — thank you New Wave — rather than something she’d want to wear to any kind of actual party.

Ugh.

She dug through her clothes and tried to do her best mix and match from what she had available. Finally she settled on some jeans (worn enough to hopefully make them look purposefully distressed), a cute black t-shirt (a bit too small for her now, but hopefully in a way that emphasised her curves) and an actually decent pastel cardigan that she’d gotten for her last birthday.After she did her makeup in the mirror, she considered her appearance. She… actually didn’t look too bad. Like she wasn’t actually a girl whose parents were determined to keep her as a shut in.

When she went to check on her brother, he was back in front of the console again. She sighed. But, well, he was an eleven year old boy. Surely no one would expecting anything much from him.

As the time incrementally ticked towards seven, she found her foot twitching, then her leg jiggling. Finally she could no longer stand it and got up to start pacing around the living room. It was ridiculous. This wasn’t the end of the world or the beginning of a new one. It wasn’t even the most tense event in her life, however much it might feel like it at the moment.

It was just… a party. A proper high school party. Her first. Doubtless her last if her mother got her way. She just had to calm down and keep perspective.

It didn’t help.

When someone eventually knocked at the door, she was so tightly wound she actually jumped in the air.

“Eric!” she called. “We’ve got to go.”

He groaned but she heard him turn the console off and get to his feet.

She checked the door before she opened it — it was definitely Maria in a cute black dress, curly hair drawn back in a ponytail, rocking back and forth on her feet.

“Hey,” she said, feeling unaccountably shy. It was ridiculous. This was **Maria**.

“I can’t believe I managed to get you to come out,” Maria enthused. “Finally! After three years! Looking good, by the way.”

Crystal resisted the urge to blush, but it was gratifying to know that someone else thought she didn’t completely look like a heap. “Thanks. You too.” She heard Eric grunt as he put his shoes on behind her. “This is my brother, Eric.”

“He’s, um, small?” Maria offered.

“Yeah, like you’re so tall,” Eric muttered.

Maria got a dangerous look in her eyes so Crystal swiftly interjected with, “Are you sure it’ll be fine taking him along with us?” Not that she could really leave him here by himself, but...

Maria considered for a moment, then smiled in a not entirely friendly way. “Sure. I think Bobby’s family still have one of those baby cages in their spare bedroom. He should just about fit inside it.”

“Well, that’s great then,” Crystal said slightly desperately, ushering Eric out of the door. “I’m sure there’ll be plenty of people happy to talk to you there, Eric.”

“There’d better be,” he said sullenly.

Lorenzo, Maria’s brother, was waiting in his car for them. Crystal couldn’t help be slightly disappointed that Maria took shotgun, leaving her in the back with Eric. After a brief round of introductions, Lorenzo said, “Just so you know, I’ll be back to pick you up at nine, so be outside by then. Unless you want me to come in there after you.” He gave a good natured grin as Maria groaned.

“Really?”

“You know the rules.”

Maria twisted around to give Crystal a look, as if seeking support in protesting how unreasonable Lorenzo was being. Crystal gave her a sympathetic smile, but couldn’t help feeling a certain amount of relief. She wasn’t sure what the full party experience was, outside of TV and movies, but she wasn’t sure she was ready for more than a couple of hours of it.

Besides, there was always Mom and Dad to worry about. But getting home just after nine should be fine, shouldn’t it?

The party itself wasn’t really anything that Crystal had been expecting. It wasn’t particularly loud or particularly raucous. More groups of people littering a house — albeit a house with a living room that was almost bigger than Crystal’s entire home — with some pop music playing gently, almost inaudibly, under the sound of people talking.

“Hey,” Maria said, touching Crystal gently on the shoulder. “Stay here. I’ll grab us a drink.”

A boy from Math class whose name she couldn’t quite remember came over with a slightly shy wave. “Hi,” he said. “Unusual to see you at one of these.” He nodded at Eric. “This your brother?”

Justin, his name was Justin. “Decided it was time for a change,” she said, unable to help smiling widely. “And, yeah. Eric, this is Justin.”

Eric looked up at him sceptically. “Hi.”

Justin seemed slightly more at ease looking down at him. “Hey,” he said. “You’ve probably been asked this a lot, but what’s it like having superheroes for parents?”

It was honestly the kind of question Crystal hated, but either Eric wasn’t as jaded as she was, or it was a gimme he felt comfortable with in this unfamiliar situation. “Most of the time it kinda sucks,” he said. “But sometimes, it’s kinda cool.”

“Yeah?” Justin said.

Eric puffed himself up a little. “Has Crystal told you about the time we met Legend?”

Now Crystal couldn’t help rolling her eyes. ‘Met’ was quite a considerable exaggeration. And he wasn’t **that** impressive, at least to look at.

Maria came up behind her and nudged her, handing her a plastic cup of root beer. “Looks like Eric has found his people.”

“One of them, at least,” Crystal said, only a little sourly. Cape chasers. Never interested in you, just who you knew.

Maria gave her a sympathetic smile. “Then maybe it’s time to find ours.”

Together they drifted between groups. It wasn’t nearly as hard as Crystal might have imagined. They joined conversations when they seemed interesting, and moved on when they no longer were. Not that Crystal had ever had problems at school, but this was a **party**. The difference was like night and day. Here, there wasn’t any ever present observation constraining things, just a chilled atmosphere that just allowed people to chat about whatever, to just be. Just being able to interact like this invigorated Crystal in a way that she couldn’t remember having felt before.

In fact it was so… it was so… it was just so much, that after a while Crystal just had to take a moment away from the crowd. She found the cloakroom and stepped inside.

“Hey,” Maria said from behind her, sounding concerned. “Are you alright?”

Crystal turned around, and hugged her hard, ridiculous tears misting her vision. “Thank you,” she whispered into her shoulder. “This is best night of my life.”

“Well, I wouldn’t say it was **that** good.” When Crystal drew back, she could see that Maria was blushing slightly. “But it’s pretty good, yeah.” Maria laughed slightly awkwardly. “Must be the company.”

Crystal ducked her head. “Yeah, maybe it’s not the **best** night,” she qualified. “But pretty good is cool too.”

Maria cocked an ear as the music suddenly got louder. “Do you want to duck back into the main room and dance a bit? I mean, it’s what kinda happens at around this point, and everyone will be doing it,” she gabbled. “Besides, it’d be nice to stretch my legs a little before Lorenzo picks us up.” She smiled winsomely at Crystal.

Crystal could feel the warmth of incipient embarrassment start to spread across her face. Despite the fact that no one could possibly overhear her, she leaned forward to whisper in Maria’s ear. “I’ve never danced before, not really.”

Maria seized her hand and started tugging her back towards the living room. “Well, no time like the present to start,” she declared, then stopped, looking a little anxiously back at Crystal. ”Unless you really don’t want to?”

Rationally, Crystal knew that no one would be watching her make a fool of herself, and she was fairly sure that Maria wouldn’t tease her, no matter how badly she flailed. And, like following a warm current in the sea, she really did want to go with Maria…

But even more than that stupid fear, she could also hear a voice that sounded too much like her mother’s. It warned that in a town like Brockton Bay, even just dancing with another girl, no matter how innocently, could be seen as a statement if viewed by the wrong person.

That making statements was what got Fleur killed.

Fuck it, she firmly told that voice. Most of these people went to Arcadia, and even if some of them didn’t…

Fuck it. Wasn’t the whole point of coming here, tonight, that she was no longer going to live that way?

Fuck it. She gripped Maria’s hand more tightly, and flashed her best smile. “We’d better get in there, then.” Maria relaxed and returned the smile.

Crystal… was not the best dancer. Not that Maria was much more than flailing limbs and enthusiasm, but Crystal struggled to reach even that. At one point, they nearly crashed to the floor together when Crystal almost overbalanced and stumbled into Maria. They both almost collapsed again as Maria started giggling uncontrollably at her, Crystal unable to help joining in.

Not even the sight of Eric taking far too gleeful an interest in her activities, doubtless taking down mental notes for blackmail later, could dampen her joy.

Until the sound of thunderous blows managed to drown out even the music, thumping against the door hard enough to rattle it in its frame. 

Everyone froze. A beat later, almost in unison, they turned towards the intrusion.

“Crystal! Eric! If you’re able to, get out here **right now**!” called Mom’s voice from outside. “If you can’t, in one minute’s time we’re coming in.”

Shit, shit, shit, shit! Mom and Dad must have gotten home early from patrolling.

“You didn’t tell them you were coming?” Maria hissed, looking wide-eyed.

“I’m here, aren’t I?” Crystal glanced around to locate Eric, who was looking scared himself. She grabbed his hand, then made her way to the door. People parted like the Red Sea in front of her, almost like she was a cape herself.

With a dry swallow of her throat, she opened the front door as soon as the current round of knocks ceased.

Mom and Dad were there and they looked **pissed**. Mom especially.

Oh god.

Oh god, oh god, oh god.

Crystal’s breath started catching in her throat, like she couldn’t gather it properly. “It was just a party, Mom,” she managed to force out.

Mom deliberately reached over their heads, slamming the door shut behind them. “It wasn’t **just** a party,” she said. “Do you have any **idea** how worried your father and I were, when we came home to find an empty house? Do you have any idea-” She stopped suddenly, as if unable to force the next words out of her mouth.

Dad took over. “Crystal, you’re too old to not know that you’re not allowed to do this. And to drag your brother away too…” His brow creased with disapproval like folding stone in a mountainside, the muscles in his arms knotting as his fists clenched.

Not that he’d ever hurt her, hurt either of his children, Crystal knew. She **knew**. But in that moment, she could see the anger bubbling beneath the surface, and she couldn’t be **certain**.

“What?” she forced out, expecting it to stop there, only for her mouth to continue by itself, working almost on autopilot. “You’re going to do what? Keep me grounded in the house at all hours? Oh. Wait.”

Apparently that was all that Mom needed to loosen her tongue. “Well, Crystal, I think you’ve proven that we can’t even trust you **that** much. Maybe we should start locking the doors. Maybe that’ll make absolutely certain that you’re where you’re supposed to be.”

No.

Nononononononononono.

She’d only just gotten a glimpse of this world she’d been deprived of; a fleeting taste of how wonderful just hanging out with people outside of school could be.She couldn’t have all that taken away from her.

Not now.

Dad touched Mom on the shoulder. “Maybe we should continue this discussion at home,” he rumbled.

Mom’s eyes flickered to the house behind Crystal. “Maybe you’re right,” she said tightly, raising her hands to release purple energy to surround them, to surround Crystal.

To wrap her in purple plastic, to keep her preserved and changeless and **dead** just like the dolls on the shelf at home.

Crystal couldn’t breathe, her chest jerking uselessly.

She couldn’t breathe.

She couldn’t-

And then…

Red energy cascaded out of her hands, bursting the bubble, flooding towards Mom and Dad…

And then…

She was on the ground, a wall of blue energy separating her from her parents, and Eric was crying; full on sobbing behind her.

Shit.

She’d almost…

Shit.

She vomited weakly, the remains of pasta stained with root beer decorating the ground in front of her.

Shit.

When she came down to breakfast the next morning , she still couldn’t look at Mom or Dad, nor even speak. Not after… after everything. She sat down at the table, staring blankly at the bowl in front of her, unable to even think about eating.

She snuck a look at Eric, who was mostly pushing his own cereal around the bowl.

There weren’t any sounds from Mom or Dad to indicate they had any more of an appetite than she did.

Heavy, stifling silence reigned for several minutes, broken only by the sounds of Eric’s spoon moving around and around and around his bowl.

Finally, Dad cleared his throat. “I think we need to look into family counselling.”

“Counselling?” Mom responded instantly. “For a family of capes? We don’t have that kind of money to spare.”

“Sarah,” Dad said quietly. “After last night…”

There was a pregnant pause. Then Mom said, “I’ll talk to Carol. See if she’ll loan us the money.’

“Thank god,” Eric mumbled.

For a moment, Crystal felt tense all over again about how Mom might respond, red energy flickering over her clenched fists… but all Mom said was, “I take it you’re willing to engage in this, Eric. Crystal?”

And it was that, actually being given a chance to dictate some part of her own life, that made something loosen inside of Crystal, made her capable of speaking to her parents at least, even if she couldn’t manage an answer to their question.

“I’m going fly myself to school today,” she said to the table, then got up and left it all behind. Desperately, she hoped that her parents could read between the lines, just this once.

Maybe she couldn’t talk to them; really talk to them. Maybe she couldn’t achieve much more than this small act of defiance. But maybe… maybe she wouldn’t have to.

She could hope that they’d realise what they’d been doing.

She could hope things would change for the better.

She could hope.

She could do that much, at least.


End file.
